Kraków Office of Nowy Styl

22 A few weeks before relocation to the new office we invited a group of project ambassadors to visit the rented space. They got to be the first to see our new place of work live, and then show photos and talk about the visit to colleagues in their respective departments. Group of change ambassadors “An ambassador is a colleague from your department whom you can always ask about the new office at 9 Jasnogórska Street, find out exactly what is going on with the project, share your suggestions with them and be sure they will pass them on to the Project Group. Get to know your Ambassador and do not hesitate to ask them about any details of our new office!” A passage from communication regarding the selection of a group of ambassadors It pays to be patient when carrying out an office change project. It is a huge change in the life of any organisation and it often in- volves concerns over losing the sense of security, or even oppo- sition. You should allow time for employees to become familiar with the change, tell them honestly about its purpose and show them what benefits it brings. Openness to dialogue with employ- ees is also important. Of course, it is impossible to hear out each employee individually, which is why we appointed a team of am- bassadors, or employee representatives from each department or team, who were a link between the project group and ordinary workers. An ambassador is an unofficial team leader, who had a wider pool of knowledge about the office change project and could respond to his or her colleagues’ questions or doubts on an ongoing basis. On the other hand, they would collect any arising questions or issues and put them up for discussion with the pro- ject group, and with the remaining ambassadors from other de- partments. As a result, communication in the project was flowing in both directions, and was not only about passing on information top-down. Also, the ‘top’ was able to hear about concerns raised by different employees. It was a very valuable experience, showing how differently people can perceive some issues. It also helped us extinguish small fires without having the entire project burn down.